Adding live rock to a Mature FO Tank

[TheFisheye]

Hello all. I have a FO tank(in signature) with about 80-100lbs of "old/dead/bleached" coral/rock. Recently bleached it all, but i kept the old bio-floss(4-5yrs old) in the sump. Wondering about seeding it, how much live rock it would take, and if i could do it safely. My flow is about 10turnovers an hour. My tank runs clean/stable without live rock(by design). The reason i'm thinking about this is that I recently had an Orange-Fin Tomini Tang that only made it about a month in my tank. It was always hiding, sometimes coming out to eat the algae off the bulkhead, and would eat seaweed and mysis during feedings. It quickly developed HLLE and died shortly after. I've had a fish(Emperor Angel) with HLLE live for a few years in the past(In fact it would still be around, but i euthanized it because it barely had enough fins left to move) so I don't think of this as the cause of death, but a symptom of stress. My LFS told me the Tomini needed live rock to graze/survive and that it was stressed because my tank has none.(Which they were WELL aware of when they sold me the fish)...anyways...will live rock help me keep fish like the tomini and significantly benifit the other inhabitants? Thanks in advance for your time/knowledge.

Residents
B&W Heniochus - 4yrs in tank
2-Yellowtail damsels - 4yrs
3-false perculas - 1@4yrs 2@2months(juveniles)
Banded Dragon Sleeper Goby
2-Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
3 Cortez Turbos
7 Ceriths
7 Nassarius(teeny tiny ones)
15 Blue leg dwarf hermits
5 Scarlet Reef Hermits

[karsseboom]

wow your tanks old school. I didnt even know people still used dead coral as decoration. Yeah man that rock works need to be open with big hole so the fish can swimm through and hide. I would ditch all the fake rock/corals and use live rock mixed in with macro rock as long as the live rock is cured you shouldnt have much trouble putting in your tank.

[TheFisheye]

yeah..lol...its in the office of our family business, and i took it over...the corals are from my dad's old tank...they were prolly sitting in a box for 20years...it's fairly open though...even the 5" Butterfly can swim through the rocks in most places

[Sk8r]

Ok, this is going to be interesting. You could add 10% to 20% live rock and have a cycle in about 12 weeks, if this were fishless. And you already have some bacteria in there, because of the fish. Rather than risk them, and because at least what I see is small, I'd get a long 20-30 gallon and quarantine all the fish for the duration---set it up plain, bare, nothing but your extant filtration and anti-jump precautions and that filter very often changed out. THen add as much live rock as you like and let 'er cycle. I'm betting it will cycle faster than 12 weeks. This way the process won't hurt your fish, and you'll give that tank a while to really develop life. Once it's done, you might consider adding some plain brown or purple discosoma mushrooms to help with the nitrate and also to provide a bit more 'bottom' to your biostructure. They're cheap, they're great living filters and very few fish will bother them. Only caution is they're also prolific, so they will spread.

[TheFisheye]

Sounds intense...is it worth all the trouble?...my water is very good and stable. nitrates/nitrites/phosphates at 0, sg 1.024-6. alk is a little high at 12ish...will it still cycle the tank if just add a piece or two and point a PH at them?..

[rinconmike]

I have a similar post here

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh....php?t=1991437

I am looking at adding live rock and keeping my bioballs in my wet dry sump.

For now I want to add for decoration and hiding places for fish.

I ordered 50 pounds of pukani rock from BRS. Not sure how much I am going to use or the way I am going to introduce into the system. I figures I will cure it first in a 55 gallon can with a mj1200 running for 2 months.

Mike

[karsseboom]

You might be safe if the live rock is cured and you dont add to much at one time. you just need to make sure its well cured live rock. otherwise if it were my system i would add the live rock little by little.

[Indymann99]

+1 above... just find GOOD LR at your LFS and add it in small quantities. Take a bucket with you full of water to pickup your LR so it stays wet... if you are just looking to add biodiversity a couple of pieces of LR will "seed" the rest of the rock you already have.

here's a vid of my FOWLR


OP thanks for the pict, brings back memories of my first tank back in 1985.

[TheFisheye]

@indyman...why you gotta break balls ;-) ....thanks for the info guys...i think i'll try the one cured piece every week or two...hopefully a few pieces will get things rollin'

[TheFisheye]

Turning my caterpillar into a butterfly.

Allright...finally made it to the LFS and got a 9lb piece of fully cured live rock. Pulled out a couple pieces of dead coral to make room, and dropped her in. Planning on adding another 9lbs or so every week for a few weeks, then maybe step it up a bit...or maybe not. It was $7.75/lb at my lfs, so that sucks, but hopefully I can eventually move into some starter corals. Love the look of the live rock compared to my old decorative dead coral. Also, would there be any value to the old coral skeletons that are coming out? By that time they will essentially be aquacultured live rock.(not the prettiest of course, but functional)

[Payton034]

IF it's actual dead coral rocks, I'd keep them. Two reasons, 1. what do you think live rock is, it's just dead corals with bacterial live on it. 2. Since it's already been in the tank awhile, it's most likely already developed the bacteria you need.

If you don't like the look of it, just hide them in the back or under the new Live rock you get.

[Payton034]

ALso If you get some very well cured live rock you can add as much as you want without a cycle since you won't have the die off. Usually the very well stuff almost look like a bare rock with just the bacteria on it.

[TheFisheye]

Allright...if anyone is still paying attention...i'm thinking about switching out my rocks/corals for some base rock(asthetic+surface area reasons), and also still slowly adding more LR hopefully seeding the rest...as long as the base rock doesn't have decaying organics on it...any ideas...i could always order the base rock and bleach it, or dry it out...any input would be much appreciated

[TheFisheye]

Added another 8lbs on tuesday(4/8/11)...today is friday, and all my levels are still excellent...it looks like i got some extra goodies on the two new pieces...bonus...also i got a few free snail shells for my hermits...one is a huge turbo snail shell, and it has stuff growing on it...any idea what it could be?..looks like barnacles...i'll upload a photo if i can get a clear shot at it